Page 23 - 20 A Great Religious Awakening

his poor heart, and made his youth hard to

bear.’” Becoming a member of the consistory

of Wurttemberg, he advocated the cause of

religious liberty. “While maintaining the

rights and privileges of the church, he was an

advocate for all reasonable freedom being

accorded to those who felt themselves bound,

on grounds of conscience, to withdraw from

her communion.”—Encyclopaedia Britannica,

9th ed., art. “Bengel.” The good effects of this

policy are still felt in his native province.

It was while preparing a sermon from

Revelation 21 for advent Sunday that the

light of Christ's second coming broke in upon

Bengel's mind. The prophecies of the

Revelation unfolded to his understanding as

never before. Overwhelmed with a sense of

the stupendous importance and surpassing

glory of the scenes presented by the prophet,